Tomorrow, visitors will get their first chance to meet the tamarins, as the science center unveils its 100-square-foot monkey habitat after months of preparation. The creatures have been hidden from public view behind privacy panels since they arrived in August, adapting to their new home. The exhibit was crowd funded, created with contributions from donors who participated in an online pledge drive.

"We crowd funded the money because I thought kids in New Jersey could pool their money, contribute small amounts and then they could come visit the animals that they had made possible," said Paul Hoffman, Liberty Science Center's president and CEO. "In the end, we raised about $23,000, which enabled us to build this enriching space, to get the animals, to provide food for them. Now, kids will be able to come and say, 'I helped bring these monkeys here.' "

Donors who contributed $5,000 got to name the elder tamarins, while those who gave $2,500 named the daughters, Sophia and Emilia. The perk for pledges of $500 was an internet chat with the animals. The monkeys have a vocabulary of 38 different chirps and tweets, according to Hoffman.

"I read two papers about primates interacting with video screens," said Hoffman. "I thought it would be a wonderful prize for people that contribute significant money, to be able to Skype with or do a Google hangout with our tamarins."

The primates will be in residence as part of the science center's "Eat or be Eaten" display, a collection of live birds, reptiles and insects that includes Goliath tarantulas, saffron finches and a red-footed tortoise named Tortellini.

About 6,000 cotton-top tamarins remain in the wild, according to Rich Weddle, animal husbandry expert and project manager at Liberty Science Center. They're found only in a shrinking swath of Colombian rainforest, Weddle said. Habitat loss has decimated their population. Tamarins were utilized for medical testing until 1973, when they were declared an endangered species.

"The number that exists in the wild are very sensitive because there are so few of them in such a small amount of habitat," said Weddle. "Over 70 percent of it has been destroyed for agricultural purposes and ranching, and now hydroelectric power. There's an important message here about the conservation of habitat and the importance of the connection between animals and their habitat."

There is a stable population of cotton-top tamarins at zoos worldwide, including local ones, such as the Bronx Zoo, the Central Park Zoo and the Cape May County Zoo.

Mazzanti and Annie were bred in captivity, Weddle said. Sophia and Emilia were born about 9 months ago and are already almost the same size as their parents. Their home is a glass enclosure that has a misting system, full spectrum lighting and nest boxes where the animals sleep. The space got a monkey makeover after the death of its longtime occupant, an Asian monitor lizard.

The tamarins rise at dawn and eat twice a day, feasting on organic fruit, live crickets and monkey chow -- nutritious biscuits for primates. During daily training sessions, they're taught to tap a purple spoon with their paws, prompted by a whistle, and rewarded with dried mango chunks.

"They're so intelligent, you want to keep their minds constantly engaged," Weddle said. "We're providing toys for them to manipulate and there's a treat if they can manipulate the toy correctly. We have an exhibit that's going to be about the Rubik's Cube, so we decided to throw some Rubik's Cubes in there to see what they do with them. So far, they've expressed some interest in it."